Stalker
by Squeezy-TC
Summary: Zer0 goes to test out a new sniper rifle in the Highlands and brings back more than he bargained for. [M] for violence/crude humor.
1. Part 1

Zer0 was out in the Highlands, perched on the western edge of the cliff side, a small ways off the map where the Hyperion locators couldn't detect him. Salvador had won a rare Jakobs' sniper rifle at Moxxi's bar, and had given it to Zer0, saying that sniper rifles 'weren't his thing.' In return, Zer0 had given him half his winnings of eridium, which Salvador quickly spent on assault rifle ammunition storage deck upgrades.

He sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the cliff, sniper rifle poised at his shoulder, waiting for the opportune moment to fire. His prey: a pack of stalkers that were lounging about under the warm afternoon sun, some five hundred yards away. He focused the crosshairs, lining it up with a particularly large stalker. It seemed more on edged than the others, constantly looking about and sniffing at the air. Every now and then it would glance up at where Zer0 was situated, staring for a long while before going back to smelling the ground and everything around it.

The others lazily wandered about, one rolling onto its back and another jumping on it in a playful fashion. A smaller one crept along the shadow, following some unknown tiny prey.

"How foolish of you/ You could flee, save yourself, but…" He lined his vision with the center of its head just as the stalker looked up at him one last time. "Your life will end here."

In that moment, a gang of bandits rushed the small pack from inside a nearby cave, inadvertently causing Zer0 to loose aim of his target as it ran. "Ah, crap." Zer0 growled. He had been waiting for the perfect moment, and so had they. As the bandits hollered and waved their weapons, Zer0 watched through his scope, intrigued. The stalkers were fighting back, but were being pushed into a small circle. One of the bandits threw a shock grenade, destroying the stalkers' natural shields. They could no longer use their cloaking defense.

They hissed and roared and threw their spikes but it did no good. The bandits had their guns firing in rapid succession, knocking the stalkers' aim off kilter. As a few of his comrades fell, a marauder threw a grenade into the defenseless circle of stalkers, killing them. The three smaller ones were completely torn apart.

"Such a treat to watch/ A battle of dominance/ Man versus nature." Zer0 was surprised by their efficiency. When he fought the bandits, they seemed to fire wantonly, screaming obscenities as they did so. Here, they only seemed to call out to scare the stalkers, shock them into not moving.

Zer0 supposed that catching food was more important than killing some random person who wandered into camp, therefore required a more efficient approach.

As the smoke cleared, the bandits cheered at their victory. Zer0 scoffed, _small_ victory. He watched as a few of the bandits began cutting up the stalkers and stuffing them into patched sacks. The ones that had been blown to bits were collected as well.

Zer0 decided that killing them would host no real enjoyment. They were relatively weak, and the only reason why they had defeated the stalkers was due to shear number. They finished up collecting the meat, and Zer0 was certain he'd seen one of them picking up bits and pieces of their fallen members by accident. Or maybe it wasn't an accident.

Zer0 grew tired of watching, the fight was over, and he still wanted to hunt something. But just as he was lowering his rifle, movement caught his eye. In one of the small caves decorated with stalker who-knows-what something seemed to move about. One of the bandits had also caught the movement, and advanced towards the cave. He leaned to view inside, and turned to call back to his fellow bandits.

He gestured towards the den, and went partly inside.

Just as his form was vanishing from view, the larger stalker, formerly presumed dead with the others, snapped into action and rushed him. It pounced onto the bandit's back and they fell deeper inside the cave. The other bandits heard the commotion and began firing into the inky darkness. When the man's screaming came to an end so did the shooting.

One of the others turned his head to regard another marauder, but was ambushed by the large stalker. Zer0 pressed his helmet against the scope; a small wave of excitement went through his body. His hands tensed further around his gun as he looked on.

The stalker bit down onto the bandit's neck and jerked its head back, tearing apart tendons and flesh. It bounded towards the second man, doing the same to him. The others shot at the creature with wild abandon, but the stalker seemed immune to the onslaught of metal piercing its body. The one and only nomad of the group screamed at the other bandits to retreat, waving his arm in a wide arc over to the hill to the southeast.

As the bandits ran, taking what meat they collected with them, the stalker huffed and gasped. It spread its legs wide and threw its head into the air, roaring after them. Blood oozed from its mouth and other parts of its body. Afterwards, it turned and limped back to the cave, only to collapse several feet away from its destination, a portion of dust blooming up from where it fell. Even then, the creature tried to force its body to continue on.

Zer0's curiosity got the better of him then. "What could it be there/ In that cave, so important/ That you give your life?" He stood on the cliff's edge for a moment before taking one step and falling straight down; he bent his knees and landed on the cracking dirt, his shield taking the brunt of the fall as he coolly stood and walked the relatively short distance to the blood-soaked area. Where thick, green grass had once been was now only small, blackened craters left by the grenade explosions.

The stalker was laying there, panting and gagging. It attempted to drag its body by its left front leg, apparently the rest of its limbs were now dead weight from the barrage of bullets they had received. It heard Zer0 coming, turning its head slowly to look at him. He hadn't stopped as it burst into a scramble to the cave, sinking into the darkness, leaving a trail of blood. Zer0 followed after it at a slow pace. The slowly setting sun cast heavy shadows around the cave, making it difficult to see inside.

He found it only a few seconds later, on the floor of the den, curled in on itself. It hissed weakly, blood trickling out of its mouth. Its body wound tighter as he advanced. Zer0 was only about two feet away when he stopped and crouched down to meet its eyelevel. "Enough protesting/ The battle is finished with/ And you may now rest."

As if understanding his words, the stalker's breathing became less persistent. Its head began to droop, and finally its body rid itself of tension and it died.

Zer0 looked the thing over one last time before standing up and checking out the cave. It was deeper than it looked from the outside, maybe about twenty feet in perimeter, but basically empty minus the stalker defecation and bones left by the pack's prey. He jabbed the bandit's corpse with his foot abjectly, half hoping it had dropped some loot. When it didn't, he felt disappointed that he wasted time in a wild-goose-chase. At least the fight was enjoyable to watch, he thought to himself. He turned to leave when a noise caught his attention.

He turned back to the stalker's body, waiting. The noise, a high-pitched whine, came from the dead animal. He walked towards it once more and noticed some movement just under the stalker's wing. Zer0 slipped his foot under its arm and flung it away, revealing several smaller bodies. He crouched and took a closer look.

"Infants," he questioned as he looked them over. So that's what the stalker was trying to defend, he mused. Upon further inspection, he noticed the small bodies each had a large boot print pressed into them, most likely left by the bandit.

Zer0 heard his ECHO communicator buzz to life as Axton's voice boomed from the small device. "Hey, buddy! Time to quick playin' hunter and move out. Lilith has a job for us and she wants you here in Sanctuary to go over the finer details."

Zer0 stood up and turned to exit the cave as Axton spoke. "A job from Lilith/ Could be very important/ My hunting can wait." He took out his pistol as he walked, examining it closely, thinking about either looting or buying a new one. Axton hummed in agreement, "alright, Axton over and out!" Zer0 cringed at his unnecessarily loud voice, and was grateful when the ECHO fell silent.

After exiting the cave and holstering his pistol, Zer0 stopped a moment to ponder his HUD map. He noticed that the Fast Travel station was only a few dozen paces further than the Catch-A-Ride, and wondered if taking time to construct a car was worth it.

As he thought, he glanced to his shield and health bar for a moment before doing a double take. His shield was slowly but surely decreasing, point by point. Zer0 looked to his HUD map once again, there were no enemies within the map's sites. He looked down to observe his body and see if he was taking elemental damage, he was not.

He looked down at his body, turning this way and that, and finally found what was causing it. There was a small creature latched onto his calf, chewing away at his armor. A large red exclamation point was displayed over Zer0's helmet as he balled his hands into fists. He swung his leg to and fro, trying to shake the thing off.

It held fast until Zer0 gave a final swing of his leg, and the unknown animal detached. It flew through the air like a mini projectile before skimming the ground and rolling to a stop. Zer0 now saw that it was one of the infant stalkers. Maybe it was smarter than its siblings and hid away from the bandit. The tiny stalker got to its feet, wobbling slightly, and shook its head, in danger of tumbling over again.

It began to cry, eyes closed and head back, apparently calling out for its mother. Zer0 looked on for a moment before remembering Axton's message. "Your mother is dead/ So too are your littermates/ Care for yourself now." And with that, Zer0 turned and walked towards his destination.

As he walked, he noticed his shield going down again. And again he looked down to see the small thing gnawing away at his suit. "Enough," Zer0 shouted and jerked his leg back and forth, once more knocking the thing off. He equipped his pistol and took aim, shooting once at where the stalker lay. In a flash, the baby dodged the bullet, jumping quickly to the left.

Zer0 stood, pistol still pointed at the same location, staring dumbly. He took aim once more and shot, and again the stalker dodged. He repeated the action again and again in rapid succession, harboring the same result. When his pistol cartridge ran empty Zer0 growled in frustration, continuously pulling the trigger and only hearing the fast clicking of the empty gun.

The tiny stalker only stared, its back legs splayed as it sat in an innocent fashion. It tilted its head in a curious manner. A tiny growl bubbled from its form before it gave a small yelp, as if trying to provoke Zer0 into shooting again. Zer0 threw the gun to the ground and swung at the stalker with his sword, but it ducked under his swing and bit down on his hand.

"Guh!" Zer0 exclaimed, waving his right hand in the air madly. His patience was completely gone, and his usual cool aura had completely melted away. He gripped the stalker's torso with his left hand and ripped it away. It squawked in protest and he threw it angrily to the ground. Then, rotating his body around it, punted the small creature as far as he could.

He quickly sheathed his sword put his right hand on his hip; then used his left to make an act of shielding the sun away from his eyes to watch the thing land a long distance away. Zer0 chuckled to himself and turned once more to walk a small ways to the Catch-A-Ride. Upon arriving, he noticed the screen was red, and not its usual teal.

Scooter's voice crackled to life on his ECHO. "Heh, aw man, were you tryin' to get a ride, man? Aw shoot sorry but, uh, the whole system is now what we call in the professional world: 'broke-ass dead.' This is on account that Clap-Trap was tryin' to get all close and personal-like with the mainframe."

Clap-Trap's image was displayed on Zer0's HUD. "Ignore that," was all he said before the image switched back to Scooter. "Anyway man, might be a long time 'til I get my sweet baby up and runnin' again. Sorry man."

Zer0 stood there for a moment before he heard a familiar tiny growl. His shoulders fell as he slowly turned his head to look back at what made the sound. The stalker sat with his pistol in its upper mouth. And when seeing that Zer0 had turned his head to look, its whole body seemed to wiggle with happiness. It dropped the pistol and, with its head, nudged it towards Zer0. He turned his head back to the ugly, red screen, and hit his helmet against it in frustration. Then again.

The stalker gave a happy squawk.


	2. Part 2

Axton was leaning on the side of a building by the Fast Travel station, awaiting Zer0's arrival. He poked at something unknown that had gotten stuck between his back molars with his tongue. He glanced up to see a flock of rakk passing over the floating city. It had been about 30 minutes since he messaged Zer0, and the ex-soldier wondered what was taking so long.

Axton glanced over and smiled as Zer0 regenerated from the Fast Travel station. He walked over at a leisurely pace while rolling his shoulders, trying to remove the tension from resting on the hard wall. "Welcome back…" he stopped walking when he saw Zer0's posture. The usually tireless man now wore an air of fatigue; shoulders slouched and arms dangling with deadweight.

Axton's eyes drifted downward and saw the stalker attached to his leg, chewing away. "Uh, Zer0?" Said man only hummed in response. "You do know there's a, uhm, _thing_ eating your leg, right?"

Zer0 glanced down, lifting up his leg slightly as if to get a better view. "…Yes. I do know." He set his leg back down. Axton raised an eyebrow and turned his nose up, eyes trained on the stalker. "Well, would you, I dunno… maybe want it off?" He looked back up to Zer0, who slowly nodded. "Yes, I would like that."

"Alrighty then," Axton said, cracking his neck. He went to grab the stalker, but Zer0 caught his wrist. "That's not a wise move/ I've tried it myself, trust me/ The bastard can bite." Axton straightened himself out and gave Zer0 a once over. "Maybe Hammerlock can help. Lilith should be able to wait a bit until we sort out this-" he gestured to the young stalker, which had stopped its gnawing to growl at him, "problem."

He flinched as the sound of Zer0's cracking shield burst through the air.

"How delightful, an infant stalker!" Hammerlock exclaimed taking a step closer to Zer0, who was sitting on one of the bar seats. "Now let's take a closer look here…" He bent forward, one hand behind his back and another stroking his mustache. "Hm, yes, I'd predict only about three months of age… and a needle stalker by the looks of the tail." Hammerlock circled around the stalker, who had braced itself by digging its tiny, sharp claws into Zer0's calf. It hissed and screeched at him, but showed no signs of running away.

Axton watched from the left-hand corner of the bar, near the slot machines. He had bent over the bar to talk a bit more closely with Moxxi. She seemed keen to his flirting, but didn't show any signs of not liking it. "And so that's about it. Zer0's been tryin' to get the thing away from him since about two hours ago, I'm thinking."

Moxxi pouted and turned to Zer0, who seemed to have recovered his stiff attitude. "Aw, poor thing; and I ain't talkin' about the stalker, sugar." Zer0 made no move to reply.

"You seem like you've had a rough day, big guy; how about a round o' drinks, on the house?" Moxxi went to place her hand on Zer0's shoulder, but pulled it away when Zer0 snapped his head in her direction, a clear warning to stay away.

Moxxi's eyes went wide for a moment before becoming half-lidded once more. She gave a crooked smile and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind you hard-to-get types. Lemme know if you change your mind." She turned and sauntered towards the back room.

Hammerlock continued his analysis. "Yes, the soft fur upon its back, legs and head will soon be replaced with smooth, durable armor. I'd say within 4 months' time. Hmm." Hammerlock leaned in closer, earning a growl from the stalker. "Its natural shield appears to be almost completely depleted. But they _do_ replenish, given some time."

Hammerlock rose from one knee and brushed himself off from the dusty floor. It wasn't like Moxxi did a bang-up job cleaning the place, but no one seemed to care or complain. "My dear boy, if you don't mind, I'd like to remove this creature from your person and study it further. I have never gotten an opportunity to examine a live one at such close range, until now."

Zer0 held his leg out, the stalker pressing its head harder into his suit. "Go right ahead."

"Excellent," Hammerlock exclaimed. "I'll just need to contain it, then, do a dissection! In depth analysis, _HO_!"

Hammerlock reached down gruffly and began to pull the stalker off of Zer0's leg with his robotic arm. It squawked in complaint and scratched at the suit, trying to get a better grip. After it was completely removed, Zer0 reached down and felt his armor. The emoticon ':(' was displayed in front of his helmet as he fingered the laceration.

"We'll get it fixed, buddy." Axton said comfortingly, putting his hand on the other's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Hammerlock struggled with the stalker as it attacked his arm, biting the metal in rapid succession. He attempted to capture it with both hands, but every time he reached for it, the stalker went to rip his fingers off.

"Quiet the lively one, isn't he?" Hammerlock grumbled as he continued to wage war with the creature.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell are you doin'?" All three turned to the back entrance of the bar as Mordecai stepped in; his new bird of prey perched on his shoulder. It had only been hatched a month ago, but could already glide small distances. Axton stepped forward and made to start talking, but Mordecai put his hand up. "I heard it all via ECHO, that's not what I'm asking."

He moved towards Hammerlock, the stalker stopped its rampage to spit out a hiss at Mordecai before locking eyes with his bird. "You're handling that thing all wrong," he said patiently. "Let me see-"

The stalker leapt from Hammerlock's grasp in an instant, sight set on the bird. The fledgling made to attack, but Mordecai quickly reached up and pulled his bird away, tucking it safely into his chest, extending his other hand to catch the stalker midair.

The stalker's front legs were pinned up to its neck, locked and unable to move by Mordecai's hand. It panicked a moment, scratching at his gloved hand with its back legs, trying to remove the tight grip. The man gently let his bloodwing down on his shoulder. It ruffled its feathers and let out a huff of annoyance, then lifted its wing to begin preening under it.

If Mordecai was angry, he didn't show it, the mask covering most of his emotions from the world. Hammerlock and the others watched as Mordecai hastily pinched the stalker's tail just where the small, black nubs grew at the end. He then proceeded to do the same with its neck, pinching the excess skin at the top like a mother cat would do to carry her young.

The tiny stalker squirmed a bit more before falling into fatigue. It let out a whimper of fear as Mordecai leaned his face towards it. "Don't go near my bird," he said threateningly, voice even and cold. The stalker pulled its arms up to his heaving chest, eyes darting from the bird, who wore an air of arrogance now, to Mordecai.

Hammerlock cleared his throat as he stepped forward to Mordecai. "Very good, sir; I can see that hunter instinct shines right and well, when you need it to." He gave a sly smile and bowed lightly, holding the now incapacitated stalker out to Hammerlock.

"Ah, not yet, not yet," the scholar waved his hand as he turned to walk. "Allow me to get my specimen preservation enclosure." Axton raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh, you mean a _cage_?"

Hammerlock looked back at him superciliously as he opened the door to the bar room of the bar. "Well, if you _mind_ getting technical about it, yes."

Moxxi slipped passed him as he went into the storage room, carrying a crate of rakk ale. She eyed Mordecai for a moment before speaking. "Oh, I thought I heard a chickenrat scurrying around out here causing a commotion."

Mordecai merely looked about the floor for the animal in an over exaggerated manner, feigning ignorance. He looked back to Moxxi. "Yeah, damn things will always be around, especially when they smell something _rotten_."

Axton and Zer0 exchanged a turn of the head, Axton standing stiffly with his arms crossed and Zer0 picking at the cut in his suit. An ellipsis was displayed on his emotion reader, meaning he was waiting for the nuclear war head to hit the fan.

Moxxi hoisted the large crate and slammed it onto the top of the bar, the bottles inside clattering like a heavy wind chime in a dust storm. A few patrons stopped their knife-throwing and small talk to glace over, but quickly remembered that not minding your own business on Pandora with get you a few bullets to the head.

She glared at Mordecai, eyes like hot pokers. "You think you're funny, kid?" she spit, upper lip curled. The hunter only gave a dark chuckle as his bird slowly brought its weight from one foot to the next, warming up for an attack. "Callin' me a kid - at _my_ age?" He took in a sharp breath, tilting his head inquisitively.

"That begs the question: what _is_ all that make-up hiding?" Axton and Zer0 once again exchanged glances, the slight turn of Zer0's head the only indicator that he was making eye contact. Axton mouthed the word 'ouch' with a smile threatening to creep onto his lips. Zer0 nodded slightly as the word '**OWND' **quickly came and went in front of his helmet**.**

They looked back at the sound of Moxxi seething, head tilted downward and eyes piercing right up into Mordecai's, who stood coolly with a look of triumph on his viewable features.

The stalker was still hanging daintily from his fingers, shaking as if it could feel the tension in the air.

**A.N.**

Oh wow, chapter two is done after a long procrastination. Sorry for that, and thanks everyone who was patient and encouraged me with all the follows, favorites and reviews. I **love** reviews!

I'm glad with how the story is going so far, and I hope you are, too. :) If you have any **suggestions** or critique please let me know~

Also, if you find any punctuation/grammar errors PLEASE, PLEASE, _PLEASE_ let me know!

Until next time, peace out, girl scout!


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